What Yoga Can Do for You

"It appears yoga has a significant impact on helping to regulate patients' heartbeat and improves the overall quality of life," Lakkireddy said.

Atrial fibrillation causes blood to pool in the upper chambers of the heart, where it can clot and travel to the brain, causing strokes. Millions of patients with the condition take the blood thinner warfarin every day to lower the risk of such clots, and thereby prevent strokes.

Considering its low cost and benefits, Lakkireddy said yoga should be considered in overall treatment of atrial fibrillation and other heart rhythm problems. But Lakkireddy cautioned that larger studies are needed to bear out the findings of his study, and that patients should continue with standard medical therapy.

"Based on my findings, one should not tell patients that yoga will fix everything and they can stop taking their anticoagulants. Yoga is strictly a supplement for everything else they are doing medically," he said.

A new wave of promising medicines to prevent such strokes is being developed by several drugmakers, one of which - Xarelto being developed by Bayer and Johnson & Johnson - will be highlighted at the heart meeting. But the pills come with side effects, and are expected to cost thousands of dollars a year, when they reach the market.